Court Orders B.C. Home Inspector to pay couple $200,000

Reprinted courtesy of The Globe and Mail

A home inspector has been ordered to pay nearly $200,000 to a North Vancouver couple who were told the house they wanted to buy only needed basic repairs.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled Imre Toth was “negligent” and provided “woefully inadequate” estimates after his inspection of the house in September 2006.

Mr. Toth's report estimated house repairs would only cost about $20,000, when in fact they totalled more than 10 times the amount at $200,000.

The judge found the buyers wouldn't have purchased the $1-million home had they been made aware of the extensive rotting beams and other structural problems.

The judgment says another inspector found water weeping from a wooden beam that he easily sunk his knife into, along with several cases of fungus growing.

Mr. Toth is a member of the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors (BC), a self-regulating association that licenses its members.

The Canadian Press

Ben Sage, Sales Representative. http://www.bensage.com http://www.oxfordcountyhomes.ca Re/Max a-b Realty Ltd., Brokerage. 519-536-7535. 521 Dundas St., Woodstock, ON